As so many of these stories start, Rob Stewart grew up attending airshows such as the Great Warbird events at West Malling. Aside from the awful traffic getting in and out (some things never change), it was the warbirds that left a great impression. That love of warbirds continued for Rob but as is often … Continue reading Warbird People: Eagles 11 & Flying the Yale

Any regular attendees to Legends during the late 90s and early 2000s will remember fondly the pre-social media days of there always being a surprise act that would arrive largely unannounced a few days before the show. This added to the magic of Legends and always made for a great bonus as it was generally … Continue reading Lockdown Legends Week 3 – American Visitors

This week looks at another Legends tradition that goes right back to the start. Back at the first Flying Legends in 1994 when Ray Hanna and Stephen Grey put on a thrilling pairs display in the Hawker Fury (example in a similar scheme pictured below) and Grumman Bearcat. This was dubbed at the time "Ultimate … Continue reading Lockdown Legends Week 2 – “Ultimate Big Pistons”

Well, we are all in the same situation at this point in time, stuck inside and chances are we will be staying that way for at least the first half of the coming season and summer. With that in mind, I thought I'd use the chance to put a small theme together. This series of … Continue reading Lockdown Legends – Week 1: Balbo Leaders

Across the country and the world we are adapting to a slightly different way of life at the moment. While we are all quite rightly spending a lot more time inside, in my case rather than going out to look at aeroplanes, I wanted to try and bring some stories to this blog from around … Continue reading Museum Update: Heinkel Project HE 111 at Hawkinge

Always a favourite stop off on a drive down to the west country, the Army Flying Museum at Middle Wallop tells the story of, as the name suggests, British Army aviation. While a great deal of this story is told by rotary wing types, there are a number of interesting fixed wing machines and gliders … Continue reading Army Flying Museum -Update February 2020

2019 was a year of great firsts for the UK airshow scene. We saw the debut of the wonderful Ultimate Fighters team (who have already been confirmed for their first 2020 appearance at the Air Festival at Duxford in May) and the incredible DH9 from the Historic Aircraft Collection. It also saw a wonderful tribute … Continue reading Warbird Tails 2020 Season Preview

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Welcome….

Welcome to Warbird Tails. Here I hope to bring interesting stories, reports and thoughts on historic aircraft collections, airshows and events around the country and the people who fly in them.
All my life I’ve been surrounded by aeroplanes, both my father and grandfather being pilots, it was inevitable that I would be bitten by the same bug. As the years have gone on I’ve found my niche for my “plane madness” in warbirds. There are many definitions of the term, but to me it has always meant World War 2 or older piston engine aircraft.
These machines are living, breathing history each with a story to tell. They are wonderful and often weird, unique and filled with character. Even sat as museum pieces they have real purpose in their stance.
This love started, no doubt, at my local airfield, Headcorn in Kent. Which has always had its fair share of warbird activity. Some of my earliest memories are of Rob Davies beating up the field in his much missed Mustang, “Big Beautiful Doll” and Martin Sargeant in his Spitfire XI.
This love of old aeroplanes has only been strengthened through the years by countless airshows and museum visits. After all these years I still can’t help but stop to watch a Spitfire fly by, or watch a Bearcat climb up effortlessly to play in the clouds. Perhaps I am still simply a child at heart, or I am easy to please, but my obsession is well set. Now in its third year, I hope you enjoy where Warbird Tails is going, thank you for reading.